Supercruise and Nebulae

[JesusRocks1988]

I know we're not able to supercruise through from one system to another because of instancing but I suddenly had the thought - are nebulae actually in 3D space in the main game like they are in the galaxy map?

I mean when you're inside a nebula, the skybox changes with each system you jump to, reflecting the part of the nebula you are in. If someone were to, say, supercruise from system to system, obviously they'd see no stars in their instance, but would they see a parallax effect in the skybox essentially enabling them to get closer to the spires and pillars of gas of the nebula itself?

The amount of times I've wanted to just get a closer look at the finger like gas structures within some of the smaller nebulae or even get inside some of the tiny ones without stars in.

Has anyone tried this before? Thoughts?

 

[StiTch]

I know we're not able to supercruise through from one system to another because of instancing but I suddenly had the thought - are nebulae actually in 3D space in the main game like they are in the galaxy map?

I mean when you're inside a nebula, the skybox changes with each system you jump to, reflecting the part of the nebula you are in. If someone were to, say, supercruise from system to system, obviously they'd see no stars in their instance, but would they see a parallax effect in the skybox essentially enabling them to get closer to the spires and pillars of gas of the nebula itself?

The amount of times I've wanted to just get a closer look at the finger like gas structures within some of the smaller nebulae or even get inside some of the tiny ones without stars in.

Has anyone tried this before? Thoughts?

Strangely been wondering what the longest journey a ship could handle is. I suspect the game wouldn't handle a countinual journey between systems; everything within one system is effectively the same instance, it's 100% plausible to travel in normal space anywhere with the fuel and motivation, and drop-in times only exist to sync you correctly.

Hyperspace jumps do need to load things though. At some point between the systems either it would crash or you'd eventually just pass a meaningless placehold marker with no system there.

As to your main point though, well put forward. I'd be interested to know, for despite my combat-heavy lifestyle I live for screenshots and my love of nebulae is very real.

Hmm....experiment time....muhahaha! https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/imp...2f8f84f3cf6f5f5f42f.AwRj4jmnJbxA.Aw18ZwIwkA==.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I don't think most structures would even be visible at close enough distances to see a parallax between server maintenances.

I also remember reading that the skybox is currently just a fixed "baked" graphic once you're in a system, but don't quote me on that.

 

[iain666]

Hyperspace jumps do need to load things though. At some point between the systems either it would crash or you'd eventually just pass a meaningless placehold marker with no system there.

It's been done, you can fly towards a nearby star and the distance will decrease to zero but there'll be nothing there because other systems don't exist in your island. You'll also still need the same amount of fuel to make the hyperspace jump to the star you are now on top of as if you'd jumped from where you entered the system (probably less a little bit because you'll have burnt off lots of fuel and now weigh less).

 

[Major Klutz]

One way to find out.
I'd start with a small one, but it's possible the game may handle Planetary Nebulae differently than big Nebulae.

I have a SC fuel consumption of ~1.4/hr. So with a 32 ton fuel tank that gives me a range of about 22 hours.
You can extend that by turning off modules to minimize fuel use.

 

[Sapyx]

Nebulae are stars, from the point of view of the stellar forge and the position calculator for the galaxy map and the skybox generator. That's why the procedurally-generated nebulae have star-like names.

Stars don't move when you try to supercruise to another star system. So nebulae won't either.

 

[Kalpa]

I'm fairly certain the nebula graphics are rendered on the skybox with the rest of the skybox. As such you can't reach them. But do feel free to try.

 

[JesusRocks1988]

Nebulae are stars, from the point of view of the stellar forge and the position calculator for the galaxy map and the skybox generator. That's why the procedurally-generated nebulae have star-like names.

Stars don't move when you try to supercruise to another star system. So nebulae won't either.

That's a shame

 

[Boogyman]

i can confirm that it is not possible to SC out of a nebula. I flew a full lightyear away from the fine ring nebula, which is less than a lightyear across, in hopes of getting a good screenshot. the position of the cloud in the skybox did not change.

 

[Jon93]

I wish I had looked at this thread earlier... Just tested this while going to SKAUDE AL-X E1-28 from the nearest star (1.2 ly), thinking it would make for an amazing time lapse that could convince people we need a locally accurate warp effect as hyperspace jump...

Sadly, it's just a static background...

 

[Orvidius]

Yep, the "witchspace" (hyperspace) animation is really more like a loading screen. It loads/generates the assets for the system you're arriving in, as well as rendering the skybox, which is then static while you're in the system. There are lots of complexity and performance reasons for it to be designed this way.

I do wish they would at least calculate the jump fuel cost, and maximum range, based on your actual distance to the target. It would allow us to use supercruise to extend the jump range a tag, when you're just barely out of range of something.